Let Them Talk

Let Them Talk
Studio album by Hugh Laurie
Released 9 May 2011 (2011-05-09)
Recorded 26–27 July, 1 September, 4-8 & 21 October 2010
Genre Blues
Length 57:56
69:02 (Special Edition)
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Joe Henry
Singles from Let Them Talk
  1. "You Don't Know My Mind"
    Released: Early 2011
  2. "Winin' Boy Blues"
    Released: October 2, 2011
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

Let Them Talk is the debut album by English actor, writer and musician Hugh Laurie.

The album, which consists of classic blues songs, was released on 9 May 2011.[2] Some of the songs are collaborations with well known artists such as Tom Jones, Irma Thomas and Dr. John.[3] Laurie plays piano and guitar on the album in addition to providing lead vocals. Kevin Breit plays guitar[4] and Vincent Henry plays saxophones.[5] The album was produced by Joe Henry and features horn arrangements by Allen Toussaint.[2]

Laurie premiered some of the songs in a small New Orleans club in March 2011.[6] In the UK, he performed at the Union Chapel in London,[5] at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival,[4] Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry, and at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music.[7] Laurie also made several television appearances, including BBC2 programmes The Graham Norton Show and Later... with Jools Holland,[8] and was interviewed on BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans Breakfast Show.

On 15 May 2011, Laurie appeared in the UK ITV series Perspectives, explaining his love for the Music of New Orleans and playing music from the album, at studios and live venues in the city itself.[9]

A special edition of the album, containing three more songs, was released on 15 May.

Contents

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "St. James Infirmary"   6:25
2. "You Don't Know My Mind"   3:39
3. "Six Cold Feet"   4:55
4. "Buddy Bolden's Blues"   3:12
5. "Battle of Jericho"   3:47
6. "After You've Gone" (featuring Dr. John) 4:09
7. "Swanee River"   2:43
8. "The Whale Has Swallowed Me"   3:37
9. "John Henry" (featuring Irma Thomas) 3:34
10. "Police Dog Blues"   3:33
11. "Tipitina"   5:06
12. "Winin' Boy Blues"   2:59
13. "They're Red Hot"   1:11
14. "Baby, Please Make a Change" (featuring Sir Tom Jones & Irma Thomas) 4:57
15. "Let Them Talk"   4:10

Songs of the Special Edition

No. Title Length
16. "Guess I'm A Fool"   3:09
17. "It Ain't Necessarily So"   3:46
18. "Lowdown, Worried and Blue"   4:14

Charts

Chart (2011)[10] Peak
position
Argentinian Albums Chart 1
Australian Albums Chart 37
Austrian Albums Chart 1
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart 22
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart 5
Canadian Albums Chart[11] 18
Czech Republic Albums Chart[12] 7
Dutch Albums Chart 25
French Albums Chart 2
German Albums Chart 8
Hungarian Albums Chart[13] 35
Italian Albums Chart 55
Polish Albums Chart[14] 22
Swiss Albums Chart 4
UK Albums Chart 2
US Billboard 200 16
US Blues Albums 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2011) Position
Austrian Albums Chart[15] 60
Swiss Albums Chart[16] 60

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina (CAPIF)[17] Gold 20,000x
Poland (ZPAV)[18] Gold 10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Gold 100,000^

Release history

Region Date
France 18 April 2011
Germany 29 April 2011
UK 9 May 2011
US 6 September 2011

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ a b "Let Them Talk". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/LET-THEM-TALK/dp/B004LQ1XBY. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  3. ^ "'House' star Hugh Laurie's blues album 'Let Them Talk' out in May". NME. March 23, 2011. http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/55622. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  4. ^ a b Fordham, John (May 3, 2011). "Hugh Laurie – review". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/may/03/hugh-laurie-at-cheltenham-jazz-festival. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  5. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (May 5, 2011). "Hugh Laurie and his fake American accent". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/8494963/Hugh-Laurie-and-his-fake-American-accent.html. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  6. ^ Smith, Caspar Llewellyn (March 23, 2011). "Hugh Laurie plays first ever blues gig". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/23/hugh-laurie-first-blues-gig. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Laurie to sing the blues at RNCM" at thenatter.co.uk
  8. ^ "Hugh Laurie chats to Jools Holland" at bbc.co.uk
  9. ^ "Down by the River by Will Marlow" in Perspectives at itv.com
  10. ^ http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Hugh+Laurie&titel=Let+Them+Talk&cat=a
  11. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/charts/canadian-albums?chartDate=2011-09-24&order=gainer
  12. ^ http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparada/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=14&titul=149182&sec=ecc3679b8321f1d7d238d04ab8a4caa3
  13. ^ "MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége". mahasz.hu. http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum&lista=top40&ev=2011&het=20&submit_=Keres%E9s. Retrieved 2011-05-25. 
  14. ^ http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=675&lang=
  15. ^ http://oe3.orf.at/charts/stories/albumyear/
  16. ^ http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=2011
  17. ^ "Argentinian album certifications – Hugh Laurie – Let Them Talk". Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers. http://www.capif.org.ar/Default.asp?PerDesde_MM=0&PerDesde_AA=0&PerHasta_MM=0&PerHasta_AA=0&interprete=Hugh+Laurie&album=Let+Them+Talk&LanDesde_MM=0&LanDesde_AA=0&LanHasta_MM=0&LanHasta_AA=0&Galardon=O&Tipo=1&ACCION2=+Buscar+&ACCION=Buscar&CO=5&CODOP=ESOP. 
  18. ^ "Polish album certifications – Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans" (in Polish). Polish Producers of Audio and Video (ZPAV). http://www.zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/zlote/index.php. 
  19. ^ "British album certifications – Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops & Hooligans". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Doo-Wops & Hooligans in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go

External links